Janus Films has bestowed upon us a brand new 4K restoration of Throne Of Blood, the vivid, visceral Macbeth adaptation directed by Akira Kurosawa that can’t be missed on the big screen!
Kurosawa sets Shakespeare’s definitive tale of ambition and duplicity in a ghostly, fog-enshrouded landscape in feudal Japan. As a hardened warrior who rises savagely to power, Toshiro Mifune gives a remarkable, animalistic performance, as does Isuzu Yamada as his ruthless wife. Throne of Blood fuses classical Western tragedy with formal elements taken from Noh theater to create an unforgettable cinematic experience.
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As a tribute to the late, great Diane Keaton, we are presenting one of her most striking and under-sung performances in Warren Beatty’s sweeping 1981 epic Reds.
Told on an operatic scale, Reds chronicles the real-life romance between radical journalist John Reed (Beatty) and writer-feminist Louise Bryant (Keaton), set against the turbulence of early-20th-century revolution. While history remembers Reed as the author of Ten Days That Shook the World, it’s Keaton’s Louise who anchors the film—unwilling to live in anyone’s shadow.
Shot with the grandeur of classic Hollywood and the intimacy of a love letter, Reds earned Beatty an Academy Award for Best Director and Keaton a Best Actress nomination, cementing her as more than the quirky icon of Annie Hall. Here she is–resolute and radiant forever.
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The 2025 Orange County Latino International Film Festival (OCLIFF) is proud to present the Orange County premiere of directors Karine Vézina and André Kadi’s animated tribute to iconic Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, Hola Frida!
Frida is a vibrant girl growing up in Coyoacán Mexico, but when sickness casts a cloud over her spirit, she finds solace in her imagination. Hola Frida! recreates the childhood of artist Frida Kahlo, and highlights the power of imagination.
Presented in Spanish, with English subtitles.
WORLD PREMIERE: Morelia International Film Festival, Mexico
OFFICIAL SELECTION: Festival International de Ciné de Morelia; BIFFF; Annecy International Animated Film Festival; Festival De Cinéma En Famille De Québec (FCEQ); Festival International Du Film Pour Enfants De Montréa (Fifem); Anima – The Brussels International Animation FIlm Festival; Orange County Latino International Film Fest
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This August, The Frida Cinema proudly presents Greenaway & Nyman, a film series celebrating four of the most iconic collaborations between filmmaker Peter Greenaway and composter Michael Nyman. Our series opens with the film that marked the beginning of their prolific and celebrated partnership, 1982’s The Draughtsman’s Contract. This film marked the beginning of a prolific and celebrated partnership, with Nyman’s driving, baroque score becoming an essential element of Greenaway’s distinct visual style.
Set in the lush English countryside at the close of the 17th century, The Draughtsman’s Contract is a labyrinthine tale of art, seduction, and deception. When Mrs. Virginia Herbert commissions a young, arrogant artist named Mr. Neville to produce a series of detailed drawings of her estate, their arrangement includes not only payment, but certain intimate privileges. As Neville obsessively sketches the grounds with mathematical precision, he begins to uncover cryptic clues and shifting allegiances that suggest a darker intrigue beneath the estate’s manicured surface.
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Oliver Stone’s The Doors: The Final Cut is a psychedelic firestorm—a feverish vision of the ‘60s rock myth, driven by rebellion, poetry, and the endless search for something beyond the veil. But at the center of it all is Val Kilmer, vanishing into the role of Jim Morrison with such uncanny depth, voice, and electricity that even bandmates couldn’t tell where the frontman ended and the actor began.
Following Morrison’s meteoric rise—from UCLA film student to rock god to haunted wanderer—the film pulses with chaos, charisma, and the tragic gravity of a man burning too bright, too fast. It’s a swirling mix of surreal imagery, concert ecstasy, and Stone’s trademark intensity, backed by iconic music that still rattles the bones.
Come celebrate another one of Kilmer’s most celebrated performances loud on the big screen!
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We are concluding our four month David Lynch retrospective by presenting The Elephant Man, his haunting sophomore feature, now in a breathtaking new 4K restoration from Paramount Pictures. One of the most emotionally resonant and visually arresting films of the 20th century, this is the perfect way to pay our final tributes.
Shot in stark, luminous black-and-white by the legendary Freddie Francis, and produced by Mel Brooks (yes, that Mel Brooks), this Victorian-era tragedy tells the true story of John Merrick (An unforgettable John Hurt), a severely deformed man exploited in a freak show before being taken under the wing of a sympathetic surgeon, Dr. Frederick Treves (a quietly commanding Anthony Hopkins). What follows is a delicate, devastating exploration of what it means to be human in a society obsessed with appearances.
With The Elephant Man, Lynch (Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive) stepped into the mainstream without sacrificing a shred of his uncanny sensibility—crafting a deeply compassionate portrait of otherness that still stuns over four decades later.
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Join us at The Frida Cinema for a special run of Selena, celebrating the legendary life and music of Selena Quintanilla in honor of her birthday on April 16th.
Directed by Gregory Nava, Selena tells the story of the Queen of Tejano music, from her early years growing up in Texas to her rise to stardom and tragic, untimely death. The film beautifully portrays Selena’s determination, talent, and her unwavering connection to her family, particularly her father (Edward James Olmos), who pushed her to reach her full potential.
Jennifer Lopez’s powerful portrayal of Selena earned her critical acclaim, and the film remains a heartfelt tribute to the artist’s legacy. Selena is more than just a biopic; it’s a celebration of her music, her influence on Latin culture, and the indelible mark she left on the world.
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The penultimate film in our Akira Kurosawa retrospective is his epic 1985 masterpiece, Ran, now restored in glorious 4K thanks to Rialto Pictures!
A grand and visually breathtaking epic that transposes Shakespeare’s King Lear into the chaotic feudal era of 16th-century Japan of Shakespeare’s King Lear, Ran stars screen legend Tatsuya Nakadai as Hidetora Ichimonji, an aging warlord who decides to divide his vast domain among his three sons in hopes of securing peace in his final years. Instead, his decision ignites a violent power struggle, as betrayal and ambition shatter his family and plunge the region into civil war. Stripped of power and driven into madness, Hidetora becomes a ghost of his former self, wandering through the wreckage of a world he once ruled.
With its masterful use of color, and meticulously staged battle sequences, Ran is both an intimate tragedy, and a large-scale historical spectacle. In delivering his haunting and majestic summation of his lifelong explorations of power, betrayal, and the devastating consequences of human ambition, Kurosawa employs sweeping landscapes, intricate battle sequences, and vivid color symbolism to create a world teetering on the edge of chaos.
About the Restoration
Ran’s original 1985 production was made possible through a French-Japanese collaboration between Kadokawa and French producer Serge Silberman, with distribution later handled by companies such as Orion and Studiocanal. That international partnership was rekindled decades later when Kadokawa and Studiocanal brought on French laboratory Éclair to restore the film in 4K under Studiocanal’s supervision, using the original negative as its source. Much of the restoration was completed manually, frame by frame, with color grading approved by Masaharu Ueda, one of Ran’s three cinematographers and a longtime collaborator of Kurosawa.
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Encoring as part of our Andrei Tarkovsky Retrospective is Andrei Rublev, one of the director’s most celebrated and historically significant works. Set in 15th-century Russia, the film follows the life of Andrei Rublev, a monk and icon painter, as he grapples with the brutality of the world around him, the spiritual toll of his calling, and the complexities of artistic creation.
Upon its release, Andrei Rublev faced heavy censorship in the Soviet Union, and it was initially banned for its perceived bleak portrayal of Russian history and spirituality. However, it eventually garnered international acclaim, receiving the FIPRESCI Prize at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival and securing its place as one of the greatest films ever made.
Andrei Rublev remains a cornerstone of both Tarkovsky’s career and Russian cinema, offering a profound exploration of the intersection between art, faith, and the human condition.
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Up first in our Andrei Tarkovsky Retrospective is Mirror, his 1975 masterpiece, now celebrating its 50th anniversary with a brand new restoration.
A deeply personal and nonlinear exploration of memory, identity, and the passage of time, Mirror weaves together fragmented glimpses of a man’s life through the eyes of his mother, wife, and son. Using a rich tapestry of dreamlike imagery, archival footage, and poetic voiceovers, Tarkovsky crafts a meditative and emotionally charged reflection on the scars of the past, the shifting nature of personal history, and the ineffable connections between generations.
With its non-traditional narrative structure and evocative visuals, Mirror stands as a haunting testament to Tarkovsky’s unparalleled ability to explore the inner landscapes of the human spirit.
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